2752. Do you buy much wool in Shetland?-We buy all the fine wool we can get. In fact, we cannot get supplied with as much Shetland wool as we want.
2753. You don't buy it to resell?-No; I just buy it for my own use.
2754. Is it the fact that some of your Shetland hosiery is sold without any profit at all?- There is some of it sold below cost price when it comes to be bad stock.
2755. Are gentlemen's drawers, for instance, sold without a profit?-I think they are sold at no reduction.
2756. Do you make any profit upon them?-Yes, I make a profit.
2757. You sell them south at a higher rate than you pay to the knitters for them?-Yes; at a shade higher, some of them.
2758. I have had evidence today from one gentleman that he bought them and sold them at a lower price. Do you think that is the case?-It is quite possible, and I have known instances of that with myself.
2759. Does that happen with you in some kinds of goods?-Yes; with certain kinds of goods which are produced in larger quantities than are required.
2760. But that over-production does not continue over a long period of time?-It does in the knitting trade with myself. I don't pay off any of the knitters; I keep them on.
2761. Can they not turn their attention to some other kinds of work when there is too much stock of a particular kind?-It is generally lacework, veils or shawls, that I give out for knitting.